National Atlas of Senegal
Atlas national du Sénégal
Senegal · Unknown · 1977
Related Reviews & Articles
Review: National Atlas of Senegal
Fall, Yoro · 1979
This review article critically assesses three publications that shed light on the precolonial history of the West African Sahel and Senegal. The proceedings of the SCOA colloquium present newly transcribed oral traditions of the Ghana, Mali, and Songhay empires, centered on the narratives of griot Wa Kamissoko and complemented by archaeological updates and methodological debates on combining Arabic, oral, and material sources. The reviewer lauds the interdisciplinary richness but laments the lack of an index that would make the data accessible to non-participants. The *Atlas national du Sénégal* is then examined, with a focus on five historical plates covering ancient Senegambian kingdoms, seventeenth-century cartography, resistance to colonial conquest, and nineteenth-century imperialism. While acknowledging the atlas’s collaborative and multidisciplinary value, the author identifies significant flaws: questionable ethnic classifications, hypothetical frontier delimitations (especially for Kaabu and Jolof), chronological errors, and a neglect of socio-economic dynamics and popular resistances. Finally, Adam Konaré Ba’s monograph on Sonni Ali Ber is reviewed, highlighting its use of Arabic chronicles and Sonhantyé oral memory to reconstruct the ruler’s religiously syncretic empire-building, yet noting unresolved questions about his relations with the ulama of Timbuktu and the circumstances of the Askia’s ascent. Throughout, the article underscores the necessity of critical source analysis and interdisciplinary dialogue for advancing African historical research.
Report: National Atlas of Senegal
Papy, Louis · 1979
This bibliographic review introduces and evaluates the *Atlas National du Sénégal* (1977), a landmark cartographic publication produced by a collaborative team of forty French and Senegalese researchers under the auspices of ORSTOM, IFAN, and CNRS, with printing by the Institut Géographique National. The review highlights the atlas’s genesis, outlined in a preface by President Léopold Sédar Senghor and an avant-propos by the editorial committee, which underscore the ambition to depict Senegal’s temporal and spatial reality within a global context. The atlas comprises 65 plate sets accompanied by dense scholarly notices. The review systematically surveys the atlas’s thematic structure: it opens with maps by Assane Seck situating Senegal’s global position and African relations, followed by Marcel Leroux’s climatological synthesis with 32 sketch maps. Geomorphological, hydrogeological, and pedological contributions by Pierre Michel are noted for their clarity and precision, while oceanographic maps by Chabanne, Rebert, and Domain synthesize recent Dakar-Thiaroye research. A particularly innovative historical section, co-authored by Descamps, Martin, Becker, and others, spans prehistory, protohistory with megalithic photography, medieval kingdoms, ethnic migrations, and colonial resistance. Contemporary themes include ethnolinguistic and religious diversity, administrative organization, population growth, rural dynamics (notably groundnut cultivation and pastoral transhumance), fisheries, industry, commerce, tourism, regional migration, and urban geography—the latter largely the work of the late Marc Vernière. The review praises the atlas’s expressive color choices, cartographic finesse, and comprehensive coverage of health, medicinal plants, education, and Senegal’s major regions (Fleuve, Sénégal Oriental, Casamance, Cap Vert). Concluding, the review lauds the atlas as a fundamental, precious working instrument and a decisive contribution to the knowledge of Senegal, a successful outcome of a bold and challenging enterprise.
Report: National Atlas of Senegal
Poncet, Yveline · 1981
This review critically examines the *Atlas National du Sénégal*, a pedagogical dossier coordinated by Régine Van Chi-Bonnardel and published by the Institut Géographique National (France) for the Republic of Senegal. The purpose is to assess the atlas as both a cartographic product and an educational tool. The analysis covers its graphic design, thematic scope, and accompanying explanatory notices, focusing on its dual ambition of serving teaching and research. The review finds that the atlas succeeds in synthesizing diverse geographical and historical data into clear, legible maps, supported by well‑structured notices that fill data gaps and provide bibliographies. Nevertheless, several shortcomings are identified: the omission of numerical scales on plates, occasionally excessive use of colour, outdated population statistics (based on the 1971 census), insufficient treatment of rural livelihoods—agriculture, livestock, and fishing—which sustain 80% of Senegal’s population, and a lack of cross‑thematic spatial syntheses. More fundamentally, the review points to an ambiguity between map and text: the extensive notices tend to overshadow the maps, reducing them to illustrations rather than primary carriers of progressively refined information. This tension reflects a deeper ambivalence between presenting solid pedagogical knowledge and showcasing recent research. The author concludes that the controversy sparked by a single notice demonstrates how tenuous the perception of cartographic facts remains, even among academics. The atlas’s ultimate value depends on clearly defining its intended audience and whether it aims to be a teaching resource or a synthesis of cutting‑edge research.
Tags
Comments
Loading…
0/2000